2010 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Estate- USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (4/2/2014)
80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc….13% alc……Parker hates it(87pts “low alc, lacking flesh, flavor dimension and density” )……I LOVE it! First thing I look for in young Cali Cabs these days…sweetness. I HATE too sweet cabs…which most are. The fruit here is silky smooth…liqueured berry, creme de cassis….ripe, but not too sweet. Wonderful licorice, graphite powder, tobacco leaf menthol, white pepper spice, espresso bean……silky tannins, but still keeps the wine tight. Nice spicy oak shades…cold stones/earth….balanced well. An elegant little sipper here from Ridge! (93 pts.)
Love Ridge Vineyards, thanks for the TN. I too don’t like sweetness in Cabernet, and have the same feeling about Pinot Noir. I don’t care if there is no RS; it’s the perceived sweetness for me.
Funny you just posted this as I was on the MacArthur’s site to buy a sixer, and dang, they sold out! Was on sale for $36. Snooze you lose, I guess. Need to seek out, so thanks for the reference point note.
Bought 4 of these when I visited Ridge last fall. All gone now. These are just fantastic qpr cabs year in and year out. Love em and love the fact that these and the Monte Bello are so low abv.
The Klein is in the tier above the Estate. The oak should integrate in a few years. Being so prominent is probably just a phase - it didn’t seem oaky when I tried it longer ago. Anyway, even the Estate will benefit from time in the cellar, not that it’s a crime to drink now. Do both. Drinking the higher tiered wines so young, on the other hand, is a waste of money. Klein is essentially renamed Jimsomare, as part of their new Historic Vineyard Series. Give 'em 15+ years.
Monte Bello tends to do that, with about the same timing. Gorgeous and complex on release (which the '10 Klein was, imo), then shuts down hard and austere about six months later for a year or so, then opens up, but showing much much less complexity, which over time grows and grows.
Ridge geeks should buy a couple Kleins and forget about them, while going heavy on Monte Bello and Estate.
I can’t agree with that. I’m in MB collector and I’ve had, I think, all but 1 or 2 MB vintages back to 1985. Sometimes even the best wineries goof, and I think Ridge goofed on the Klein and overoaked it. I tasted it the day it arrived to see what I had, so long before any later austere phase.
I wouldn’t be shocked if at some point down the road the oak eventually integrates, but if the Klein becomes good it will be in spite of, and not because of, the overoaking. There are so many better bottles from Ridge.
From my and others on this thread’s experience with that wine, you caught it at an odd phase where the oak was unusually prominent.
It’s not exactly rare for young Ridge wines to be oaky. Ridge is one of the nearest wineries to me and I go up there several times a year, they dominate my cellar, I’ve tasted 38 vintages of MB back to '68, etc. The oak will integrate long before the Klein is ready to drink.
My advice was to go heavy on the MB and Estate and just get a couple Klein (if you’re a Ridge geek) and forget about them. 15+ years. Klein is the wine formerly know as Jimsomare Cabernet - there is a track record.
Ah, that sounds more like a matter of preference. I loved the Klein. I don’t buy Cab, but bought a few of the Klein, for its brooding quality, specific absence of big, ripe fruit. Also reasonable sensitive to oak, and I didn’t pick up anything that bothered me.
Fair enough; my experience with “on release” only dates back to the 1999 (I’m a very youthful 32, I’ll have you know). But this was the oakiest Ridge Cab I’ve ever had by a fair bit.
Twice in the last year. A consistently solid wine thought for me, at least today it’s a notch behind the 2007 and the 2011.
2010 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Estate- USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (4/7/2014) California Wine Fair - Toronto, ON (Fairmont Royal York): Second time tasted this year with a consistent experience though seemingly just a touch less unintegrated oak this time. A very pretty wine and you can tell it will be good but needs time. Nose of mineral, concrete dust, graphite, cassis, black cherry, perfume, mushroom, cedar and slight vanilla/coconut note. Palate is dense and ripe with lots of blackerry and cassis, with firm but ripe tannin. Finish is medium plus in length. Should merit a point or two more as it ages. I really enjoy this style. (91 pts.)
2010 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Estate- USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (3/15/2014)
(LCBO Tasting Bar Sample) I have loved this wine in the past and this one is nice with good potential, though at this stage I can’t say I like it as much as the 2007 vintage. Pours dark ruby with purple transparency at the rim, looks young. On the nose we have some coconut/vanilla American oak that has not yet fully integrated though I suppose it should. Also on the nose: blackberry, cassis, raspberry, mushrooms, undergrowth, and cedar. Palate shows perfectly ripened fruit and excellent prominent acid keeping things fresh. The finish is a little marred today with some American oak notes, but these will likely integrate. A little young today, shows promise to improve as things integrate. 91+ (91 pts.)
I had the 2010 about 3 months ago and really liked it, but IMHO it willl get better, which is pretty much the comment with all Ridge wines. I have been buying this wine for 15 years and rarely disappointed (corked wines will do that). Again IMHO, there are no CA Cabs in this price range that will match this wine’s class and complexity.